Learners’ democratic involvement in school …

1 SA-eDUC JOURNAL Volume 10, Number 1, March 2013 1 Learners democratic involvement in school governing bodies in South Africa: Making the voice of the voiceless heard Abstract This is a qualitative study that used interviews and observations undertaken in two provinces of South Africa. The investigation considered the responses of focus groups of parents, educators and school governing bodies (SGBs) in two provinces of South Africa regarding the issues of both the actual or theoretical involvement of learners in SGBs. It considered what barriers exist to learner participation, the key issue of training for learner involvement , and whether SGBs have contributed to the development of democracy in South African schools. The findings suggest that, despite being afforded a full role in school governance by post-apartheid educational policy, learners do not always play their part in school decision-making. While learner participation in SGBs in South Africa offers considerable potential for both school improvement and for contributing to the deepening and consolidation of democracy in South Africa, much work still has to be done.

2 Keywords school governance, democracy, learner participation, decision-making Introduction and background In recent years a strong argument has been made for democracy as a form of development in itself (Sen, 1999; Walker & Unterhalter, 2007), as well as for providing a better context for other forms of social and economic development (UNDP, 2000: 1- 13, 2005: 20-21). Moreover, education has for a long time been assumed to have the potential to play a part in fostering more democratic states and societies (Carr & Hartnett, 1996). While empirical studies vary in the extent to which they support the relationship between education and democratisation ( Lipset, 1959; McMahon, 1999), a key argument is that it is not necessarily formal education per se that might foster more democratic values and behaviours, but that what matters is the nature, structures and process of the education experienced (Harber, 2009).

3 UNESCO s 2005 annual EFA Global Monitoring Report focuses on the quality of education. The report discusses, approvingly, UNICEF s Child-Friendly Schools model as part of a discussion on school improvement, stating: Vusi Mncube and Clive Harber Learners democratic involvement in school governing bodies in South Africa: Making the voice of the voiceless heard One implication of reforms driven by school improvement, however, interpreted and applied is greater school autonomy. Such reforms are usually associated with decentralisation. school -based management and leadership are crucial aspects of any reform strategy in which control and responsibility are devolved (UNESCO, 2005: 172-173). In addition, the report urges that the situation should become more democratic , allowing teachers and parents to take school -based decisions although no mention is made of learners (UNESCO, 2005: 172-173). Providing a democratic experience at school , and therefore developing democratic values and skills, is impossible in the absence of a certain level of decentralised school autonomy.

4 Such autonomy does not, by any means, guarantee democratic decision-making. However, if power and control is primarily centralised with the Ministry, the province or the local authority schools, head teachers will lack the power to make decisions and, therefore, will have nothing to share with the learners. Indeed, in terms of debates about the structures and processes of education for democracy, it is increasingly argued that learners should play a role in attaining more democratic forms of distributed leadership, decision-making and policy implementation than at present, as they constitute a major stakeholder group (Cockburn, 2006; Woods, 2005). A considerable amount of international and comparative literature on the democratic involvement of learners in matters affecting their education currently exists, including the many arguments supporting such involvement . In said literature, there is evidence that strongly suggests that listening to pupils, encouraging their participation and giving them more power and responsibility ( greater democratisation) can enhance school effectiveness and facilitate school improvement, as well as contribute to the development of more democratic values (Trafford, 2003).

5 Mechanisms to involve learners specifically in the governance of schools have been employed in some contexts as a form by means of which to improve decision-making in, and the democratisation of, education (Beane & Apple, 1999; Cox et al., 2010; Mncube & Harber, 2010), as well as in recognition of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989: SA-eDUC JOURNAL Volume 10, Number 1, March 2013 3 State parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all actions affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. Cockburn (2006) found that the learners voices are effective when they attend the meetings proposed, but are even more so when the learners actively take part in shaping the agenda of the meetings concerned. Further, he devised three definitions of involvement , namely opportunity where learners are given the opportunity to attend meetings; attendance where learners take up that opportunity; and engagement whereby learners not only attend, but are also given a chance to make effective contributions in meetings (Mncube, 2008).

6 In terms of the functioning of the school governing bodies (SGBs), learners should not only be there for window-dressing or used in a tokenistic way, but they must take an active part in such meetings. However, there are few empirical studies of how more democratic forms of school governance, particularly the role of learners, are perceived and operationalised by key participants. The current article is, therefore, concerned with both the use of school governance structures to help to promote democracy and more specifically with the role of learners in school governance. It focuses on the educational situation as South Africa, where related policy has explicitly promoted the use of SGBs and the involvement of learners as an instrument of democratisation. Legislative basis of school governance in South Africa In regard to South Africa, in 1996 the newly democratic state of South Africa published a White Paper on organisation governance and funding of schools (Republic of South Africa, 1996), from which emanated the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 (SASA).

7 SASA, which became operative at the beginning of 1997, mandated that all public state schools in South Africa must have democratically elected SGBs composed of teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and learners (in secondary schools). Parents are supposed to be the majority in the SGBs and the chair of the governing body should come from the parent component. SASA is regarded as a tool that is aimed at, inter alia, redressing past exclusions and facilitating the necessary transformation to support the ideals of representation and participation in both the schools and the country (Karlsen, 1999). By establishing SASA, the state aimed at fostering democratic school governance, and thereby introducing a school Vusi Mncube and Clive Harber Learners democratic involvement in school governing bodies in South Africa: Making the voice of the voiceless heard governance structure that involves all the stakeholder groups in active and responsible roles in education in order to promote issues of democracy: tolerance, rational discussion and collective decision-making (South Africa, 1996: 16).

8 The functions of the SGBs, of which the learners are part, are clearly stated in SASA. Functions include, among others, recommending the appointment of educators and non-educator staff, deciding on the language policy of the school , controlling and maintaining school property, and determining school fees. As members of the SGBs, learner representatives are also required to participate actively in the execution of the functions, which, in most cases, has not necessarily been the case since then. SASA mandates that secondary school learners, who are members of a representative council of learners (RCL), should be part of school governance through participating in SGBs. Participation by the learners in governance processes was intended to provide the necessary space for them to acquire democratic capacity and leadership skills (see South Africa, 1996). The Department of Education (South Africa.)

9 Department of Education, 1999), in providing the Guides for RCLs, outlines the following main functions of RCLs: a) An RCL acts as an important instrument for liaison and communication. b) An RCL meets at regular intervals, as determined by its constitution, to consider ideas, suggestions, comments and complaints that it receives from its constituency. c) After every meeting, an RCL gives feedback to the learners concerned. Other main functions include drafting the constitution of the RCL, which it must then submit to the SGB for approval, acting as representative of fellow learners in SGBs, and assisting in maintaining order in the school in accordance with the approved school rules. Further, members of the RCL should set a positive example of discipline, loyalty, respect, punctuality, academic thoroughness, morality, cooperation and active participation in school activities; must promote good relations among the learners themselves, and between the learners and staff, the school and the community, and the school and parents.

10 Finally, the members have a duty to promote responsibility and leadership; to support the educational programme of the school ; and to maintain and to refine the traditions of the school . SA-eDUC JOURNAL Volume 10, Number 1, March 2013 5 Despite the inclusion of learners in SGBs being a positive step forward, Mncube (2008) contends that their participation is also fraught with difficulties and contestations. He maintains that, in terms of SASA, learner governors should be regarded as full and legitimate members of the SGBs; however, they are often not afforded full opportunity to participate in the making of crucial decisions by the adult members of governing bodies, either directly or indirectly. The implications of the findings of Mncube s study suggest that spaces should be created in which learners can exercise their right to participate in SGBs to the extent that they can engage fruitfully in deliberations and dialogue dealing with school governance issues.